Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2025

Key Points

• The bill lets human trafficking survivors ask a federal court to vacate (erase) convictions for non-violent federal offenses they were forced to commit. It also allows expungement of arrest records, even if no conviction resulted, as long as the arrest was directly related to being trafficked.
• For people currently in prison, judges can reduce sentences for both non-violent and certain violent federal offenses if the prisoner can show they committed the crime as a direct result of being trafficked. The Bureau of Prisons director can also file these motions on a prisoner's behalf.
• The bill creates a new legal defense for trafficking victims. If a defendant proves by clear and convincing evidence they were a trafficking victim at the time of the crime, the court must presume they acted under duress, which the prosecution can try to disprove.
• All court filings related to these motions are sealed to protect survivors' privacy, and survivors pay zero fees to file. This removes financial and safety barriers that might otherwise prevent trafficking victims from seeking relief.
• The law applies retroactively to any conviction or arrest that happened before, on, or after the law takes effect. This means survivors who were convicted years ago can still seek relief under this bill.
• Federal grants for legal representation can now be used for post-conviction relief work. The GAO must report to Congress within 3 years on how many survivors used this law and recommend improvements.